Police are investigating an all-male Cambridge University drinking society
whose members appear to be shown in a video parading through Oxford chanting
about rape

Police are investigating after a group of young men, a number of whom are suspected to be members a notorious Cambridge drinking society, were recorded on video parading around Oxford chanting about rape.

It is believed that some of the men are members of the Wyverns, an all-male drinking society from Magdalene College, Cambridge.

The young men, who were heard chanting "rape" as well as "she's too young" and "15 years" as they marched down Oxford's high street early Saturday evening, were reported to police by an onlooker the following day.

The footage was made public just days after the president of the Oxford Union was arrested on suspicion of the rape and attempted rape of two undergraduates.

One of the men in the group was wearing a grey blazer with “WGP 13” written on the back, which is thought to stand for “Wyverns Garden Party 2013”.

Last year the Wyvern’s annual jelly wrestling competition was called off after a petition launched by two female students labelled ritual of the bikini-clad females wrestling in jelly as “clearly sexist” and “misogynistic”.

The jelly wrestling, which takes place on “Suicide Sunday”, stoked controversy when, six years ago, a 23-year-old student was arrested and cautioned for assaulting a spectator.

The festivities were held in a new location the following year after officials banned students from holding it on university land.

A Cambridge University spokesman said: “If indeed these students were from Cambridge, their behaviour is deplorable. The colleges and university will be investigating.”

A 22-year-old female student at St Hilda's College, Oxford, who filmed the offensive chants on her mobile phone before reporting the incident to the police, said their behaviour was “threatening” and “intimidating”.

The student saw around 25 “drunk” men “staggering” down Oxford’s High Street on Saturday evening. She described them as “large men” who "looked athletic”.

“I heard very clearly that the word ‘rape’ said very loudly and several times. They were saying ‘15 years' and 'she’s too young’. They were repeating the same chorus over and over," she said.

“The people I confronted seemed quite embarrassed. The first thing I said was, ‘Do you have a sister? Do you have a mother? Do you realise how this makes women feel to hear this?’ My heart was pounding.

“I think they knew they were doing something wrong but it’s the group mentality. I spoke to one and said, ‘Don’t you find this offensive?’ He said, ‘Why is it offensive? We are actually promoting women’s issues.’ After they said that to me I was speechless.

“I think it was the fact that they were chanting feminist slogans, but in this case it was drunken men staggering and chanting in a jostling way. It was taking slogans out of their context and presenting them in a way it was offensive."

Hannah Shaw, a second-year Classics student at Magdalene College, said: "I think that this was meant to be a joke, although a very tasteless and offensive one."

Another student at Magdalene College who knows some of the men involved said: "I'm sure most of the Wyverns are pretty embarrassed about this and don't want anything to do with it."

Sarah Pine, women's officer at Oxford University Student Union, said she is not surprised about the chants, which are part of “lad culture”.

She said: “Whilst this was very public I think this type of behaviour is incredibly common not just in Oxford but around the country.

"Social groups trivialising and normalising sexual violence is seen as edgy or fun humour for many groups, regardless of where they are from.

“I think lad culture is accessible to a lot of different groups of people and is considered normal.”

Oxford University say there is “no suggestion” that the group of young men are students at Oxford.

An Oxford University spokesman said: “The University can confirm that a female student made her college aware of this incident.

“Offensive behaviour of any kind is unacceptable at Oxford. The female student who made the complaint received advice and support from her college.”

A spokesman from Thames Valley Police said: “We received a call on Sunday which was a report of a group of men using offensive language in Cornmarket Street, Oxford, on Saturday evening at approximately 7.30pm. Our officers are in the early stages of making enquiries.”

The Wyverns posted a statement on their Facebook group 'Johnnie Wyvern' which read: “The Wyverns would like to condemn the actions of those seen acting inappropriately in Oxford this weekend.

"This was not a Wyvern organised event and the video shows no current student to be taking part in the disgraceful chants. We find the behaviour seen in the video appalling and hope those who are involved are made to apologise.”